328 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



match, plenty of heavy under-clothing, and a loose-fit- 

 ting, warm overcoat. Be sure that your hunting-suit and 

 hat is light enough in color. Nine-tenths of the regula- 

 tion canvas suits are too dark. About the gun, it does 

 not matter as to size and weight. A twelve-gauge will do, 

 but a ten-gauge is better, and an eight-gauge is better yet. 

 The principal thing is to hit the geese, and you will be 

 more certain to do it with a gun that you are accustomed 

 to be it light or heavy than one you are unfamiliar 

 with. Everything else being equal, the heavier gun is the 

 better. 



For a ten-gauge gun, the best all-round load for geese is 

 five drams of powder and one ounce of No. 2 shot. When 

 they come in well to the decoys, No. 4's in the right bar- 

 rel and No. 2's in the left is about the thing. Do not 

 be misled into loading any larger shot under any circum- 

 stances. A few loads of heavier shot, for chance shots at 

 long distances, would not be out of place in your car- 

 tridge-box, and always have a few dozen shells loaded 

 with 6's for a stray prairie chicken or jack-rabbit. 



Well, suppose you put in an appearance, properly 

 equipped, about November 1st, and find me somewhere 

 in the neighborhood of the Missouri River, in South 

 Dakota. " What is the prospect for geese?" is your first 

 natural inquiry. It's hard to tell; we will have to do a 

 little exploring on the morrow. I do not make a practice 

 of questioning farmers. The sources of information thus 

 taken are too uncertain in results. It has cost me many 

 a wild goose chase to learn this. Not one farmer in ten 

 is a sportsman, and not over one in ten hunt at all, and 

 only an insignificant few have any conception of what 

 constitutes satisfactory shooting. If a stray flock of 

 geese happens to alight on Mr. Farmer's stubble-field 

 or in his corn some morning or evening, it is likely that 

 he will say that "there's piles of 'em." If they chance to 



